Parshas Tazria-Metzora - Be Kind Too! You're a Web-Rooted Friend

Parshas Tazria-Metzora

Be Kind Too! You're a Web-Rooted Friend

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר: אָדָם כִּי יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת וְהָיָה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת וְהוּבָא אֶל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים

“Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 'If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a se'is or sapachas or a baheres, and it will become a tzara'as affliction on the skin of his flesh; he shall be brought to Aharon the Kohen, or to one of his sons the Kohanim...'”

-Tazria 13:1-2

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: זֹאת תִּהְיֶה תּוֹרַת הַמְּצֹרָע בְּיוֹם טָהֳרָתוֹ וְהוּבָא אֶל הַכֹּהֵן: וְיָצָא הַכֹּהֵן אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וְרָאָה הַכֹּהֵן וְהִנֵּה נִרְפָּא נֶגַע הַצָּרַעַת מִן הַצָּרוּעַ: וְצִוָּה הַכֹּהֵן וְלָקַח לַמִּטַּהֵר שְׁתֵּי צִפֳּרִים חַיּוֹת טְהֹרוֹת וְעֵץ אֶרֶז וּשְׁנִי תוֹלַעַת וְאֵזֹב

“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, 'This shall be the law of the Metzora on the day of his purification: He shall be brought to the Kohen. The Kohen shall look, and behold! - the tzara'as affliction had been healed from the Metzora. The Kohen shall command; and for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, pure birds, cedarwood, a crimson tongue of wool, and hyssop.'”

-Metzora 14:1-4

וַיְדַבֵּר הֹ' אֶל משֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר: כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם: וּבָא אֲשֶׁר לוֹ הַבַּיִת וְהִגִּיד לַכֹּהֵן לֵאמֹר כְּנֶגַע נִרְאָה לִי בַּבָּיִת: וְצִוָּה הַכֹּהֵן וּפִנּוּ אֶת הַבַּיִת בְּטֶרֶם יָבֹא הַכֹּהֵן לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַנֶּגַע וְלֹא יִטְמָא כָּל אֲשֶׁר בַּבָּיִת וְאַחַר כֵּן יָבֹא הַכֹּהֵן לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַבָּיִת

“Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon, saying: 'When you arrive in the land of Cana'an that I give you as a possession, and I will place a tzara'as as affliction upon a house in the land of your possession.; the one to who the house belongs shall come to declare to the Kohen, saying: 'Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house'. The Kohen shall command, and they shall clear the house when the Kohen has not yet come to look at the affliction, so that everything in the house should not become impure; and afterward shall the Kohen come to look at the house....'”

-Metzora 14:33-36

The whole concept of tzara'as is one that is so foreign to us. With tzara'as as part of reality, one could imagine how it would be so much easier to literally see that even non-physical actions could have real bad repercussions, as well as realize that there is indeed a direct connection between the spiritual and physical worlds. Lashon harah (evil speech) is spoken everyday by so many people whether it be verbally or over social networks, with seemingly no consequences. It has become such a focal part of society that the idea does not faze us. Whistle-blowing, art critiquing, ratings, online comments, everyday news. We rush to hear or say negative things about others because deep down it makes us feel better. It is an extremely unfortunate reality that we are so disconnected and unmoved by speaking or listening to lashon harah. Certainly no one would want lashon harah spoken about themselves – after all “it's not their business” or “for what purpose would you want to ruin my reputation” - yet when it comes to others, it comes to us so easy that we rarely even need to rationalize what we are saying, we just say whatever we want whether in speech, text, email, or comment sections. How does this make any sense? Even non-Jews have the principle to treat thy fellow neighbor as yourself. After all it becomes a necessary principle for civilization to succeed. People do not go around physically hurting others, because they would not want to be physically hurt in return. So why do people easily say things which hurt others when they would not want that to be done back to them? What intuition is lacking when it comes to lashon harah which causes us to do it without thinking? How could we work on ourselves to start realizing when we are saying or hearing lashon harah in order to stay away from it?

The passuk¹ (verse) describes that upon seeing tzara'as on one's house, the afflicted person goes to the Kohen and declares, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house”. Rashi² further stresses that even if the person is a talmid chochom (Torah scholar) who knows that what is on his house is certainly a form of tzara'as, still he is not permitted to definitively declare, “An affliction has appeared to me”; rather, he should say, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me”. The reason for this, as the next Rashi³ further explains, is because until the Kohen himself declares it tamei (impure), there is absolutely no law of impurity regarding the affliction.

The Alter of Slabodka⁴ is bothered by this process. Is this all a word game? If the man who received the tzara'as knows for himself that it is indeed tzara'as, why does he need to play dumb with the Kohen? He should be encouraged to explicitly state the facts: “An affliction has appeared to me.” What is the point of this elusiveness by saying, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me”?

The Alter of Slabodka answers by reiterating Rashi in a slightly stronger way. He writes that because it is the Kohen who must declare that the affliction is indeed tamei, it would be sheker (a lie) to declare prior to that point that you have seen tzara'as. Tzara'as must be declared by the Kohen. It is therefore not possible that you have seen tzara'as because tzara'as does not really exist until it is declared tamei by the Kohen. The Alter of Slabodka continues to write that perhaps some people are bothered by the following question. According to this, that we are so careful about not saying sheker, we have not accomplished anything. How could this talmid chochom say to the Kohen, “something like an affliction has appeared to me”, if he knows that it is tzara'as and will ultimately be declared as such anyway? If the Torah is really trying to be so stringent on falsehood, no lesson could be learned from here, he is lying regardless!

However, writes the Alter of Slabodka, one who is bothered by such a question is being caught up in the same fundamental mistake. Before the Kohen comes to declare it tamei, there is absolutely no tzara'as. It is not like we pretend that we do not know what it is and then when the Kohen makes his statement we say, “Told you so!” It is not like that at all. Rather, the tzara'as does not exist as a tamei affliction until the Kohen declares it as such. This is true to the point that if the afflicted is a talmid chochom who recognizes it as tzara'as, and the Kohen is an ignoramus who does not know all the rules of what qualifies as tzara'as, and consequently declares it tahor (pure), the man is indeed pure. The fact that the affliction is not considered tzara'as until the Kohen's say-so is evident from the Torah itself. The passuk⁵ advises that before one calls the Kohen to see the affliction in one's home, one should take some time to clear his house of his possessions in order that they not become contaminated at the time the Kohen determines the tzara'as to be tamei.⁶ There is no retroactive tzara'as. It is clear that no tzara'as existed before the Kohen declares it even if that same spot has been there for a while.

The Alter of Slabodka definitely makes himself clear that it would be incorrect for the talmid chochom to say, “An affliction has appeared to me”, and that the Torah is teaching us a lesson of the requirement to stay away from sheker (falsehood). However, let us stop and rethink through this again. though. There is no doubt that honesty is of utmost importance and a pillar of the Torah. After all, the seal of Hashem is emes (truth).⁷ However, is that really being compromised here? At the end of the day, what is really wrong with the afflicted person calling it tzara'as? Let it be his personal opinion. Imagine that you are sitting watching a court case and, after listening to both sides, you turn to the guy next to you and say, “That man is definitely guilty.” Is there really something so wrong in stating this? Granted, if the person sitting next to you is the Alter of Slabodka he might say, “How could you say he is guilty? The jury has not yet declared him as such!” But, would that really be a valid complaint, or is there in fact a bigger fuss about accuracy when it comes to tzara'as than even the most radical truth-tellers would generally make?

Furthermore, let us take a step back for a moment and recall the bigger picture. The whole reason for this necessity to say, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me”, stems from the fact that the Torah insists that it be only the Kohen who has the ability to declare tzara'as to be tamei. Why is this necessary? The entire parshiyos of Tazria and Metzora are filled with descriptions of the Kohen specifically being the one who is commanding and declaring. Why is it so important and why is there such an emphasis on it? Why not eliminate the middle man and let the people declare tamei for themselves?

The Medrash⁸ relates a story of a certain peddler who was traveling through a few cities near Tzipori. He went around announcing, “Who wants to purchase an elixir of life?” Soon, he had attracted a small crowd around him. Rebbe Yannai happened to be sitting there and said, “I would like to buy some”. The peddler turned to him and said, “You and those like you have no need for this product.” However, Rebbe Yannai kept bothering the peddler to sell it to him. The peddler then took out a Tehillim and showed him the following passukim: “Who is the man who desires life, who loves days of seeing good? Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from from speaking deceit. Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”⁹

It seems from these passukim in Tehillim that staying away from lashon harah is the recipe for a long life. However, the two elements which are needed to stay away from lashon harah are to come close to Torah¹⁰ and to pursue peace. As a matter of fact, the Kli Yakar¹¹ explains that this is precisely the reason why when it comes to tzara'as, it could only be declared tamei or tahor by a Kohen.¹² One who involves himself in lashon harah is someone who causes fights and mistrust. Such people destroy society by tearing its members apart from each other. Therefore, Aharon's special middah (trait) of shalom (peace) must be the one to set the example.

The mishna¹³ states that Hillel used to say, “Be among the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursing peace; loving people and bringing them closer to the Torah.” These two elements of coming closer to Torah and pursuing peace are the two fundamentals of establishing a successful society. Torah is emes (truth). Trust and honesty are needed in order to build real relationships and friendships. Additionally, in order to have a successful culture, just being “un-annoying” is not enough. Passiveness is not real peace. Passiveness would allow for a world where everyone absolutely despises each other, yet no one wants to violently express that hatred. Rather, real peace is the pursuit of peace. Just sitting around being a bobble-head is not enough, one has to go out and be actively kind and helpful to others with the others' best interests in mind.

This was what was so special about Aharon HaKohen. The passuk¹⁴ testifies that at the time that Aharon passed away, the entire B'nei Yisroel cried for thirty days in mourning. Rashi¹⁵ there comments that all the men and women felt a personal connection to Aharon because he was someone who would pursue peace, save marriages, and instill love between two people involved in an argument.

Speaking lashon harah is not something that one wakes up one morning and decides to do. Rather it is something which either feels right or wrong to us depending on the level we are on. The setup for this failure stems from a lacking in emes and a deficiency in pursuing peace. Emes and the pursuit of peace is what keeps society healthy; defining the contrast, however, is where it gets tricky. It is not enough to just not say or not allow for sheker, nor is it enough to simply not get on others' nerves. Instead, we must do as Hillel prescribes in Pirkei Avos – we must pursue peace and bring others closer to the emes of Torah. This means to actively encourage emes and to take action in creating peace.

Perhaps this is why these two points are so specifically stressed throughout the subject of tzara'as. To pure oneself from tzara'as, one must focus on the two middos – emes and shalom – he is deficient in, which allowed for him to feel comfortable speaking lashon harah in the first place. This is why the Torah chooses here to emphasize the distance we must go to stay away from sheker, and why the Torah takes the task of determining whether an affliction is impure away from those who are talmidei chochomim alone, and instead puts it in the charge of those who represent shalom.

Living during a time of “greed is good” and “on the Internet no one knows you are a dog”, it is no surprise that we have become so insensitive to lashon harah. Shalom and emes seem to be the antithesis of what we are influenced with on a daily basis. One would at least think that a culture where one could make up the perfect profile, and where self-made success is encouraged, should consist of the happiest people on Earth. Yet, that is certainly not the case.

People were not created to live lives of sheker or lack of actively pursuing peace, therefore following such paths cannot and do not lead to real happiness. Rather, it is being honest and caring for others which offers a taste of real happiness. A lady by the name of Elizabeth Dunn led an interesting study in 2008. She and her colleagues gathered a group of students and distributed envelopes to them containing cash and instructions on how it should be spent. Each envelope held either five or twenty dollars along with a note, which either instructed the money to be spent on oneself or on someone else. Later, Dunn and her team measured and analyzed the level of happiness that the participants experienced. Their results showed that the ones who spent the money on others felt much better and happier than those who spent the money on themselves – regardless of whether they had spent five or twenty dollars.

The idea of pursuing emes and shalom is something which we must realize works exponentially. Each person is rooted within a web of friends and acquaintances who in turn are each a part of their own network. So it is not enough to just be not unkind, instead we must actively be kind because we are rooted as part of a web in which one person's positive pursuit of peace could change others', causing an exponential chain reaction. At the same time, we must internalize the dangers that a deficiency in these middos could cause. After realizing the mentality which ruins communities and destroys societies, our task is to work on the middos which will prevent us from reaching such disasters.

May we learn from these parshiyos of tzara'as to work on the middos of emes and shalom, and achieve what Hashem tells us in Nach¹⁶, “You shall love truth and peace”.

1Vayikra 14:35

2Ibid.

3Vayikra 14:36

4Ohr HaTzafun: Chelek Gimmel

5Vayikra 14:36

6Rashi ibid.

7Gemara Shabbos 55a

8Vayikra Rabbah 16:2

9Tehillim 13-15

10See Gemara Berachos 5a which says that there is nothing referred to as “good” other than Torah, as the passuk says in Mishlei 4:2, “For a good teaching I have given you – My Torah; do not forsake it.”

11Tazria 13:3

12The Kli Yakar 13:2 actually maintains that there are three possible reasons why someone would receive tzara'as: For speaking lashon harah, being haughty, or running after money. The Kli Yakar (13:3) then explains why it is a Kohen specifically who declares the tzara'as on someone who did one of these three things. We will focus on the lashon harah part, though it could be applied to all three.

13Avos 1:13

14Bamidbar 20:29

15Ibid.

16Zechariah 8:19

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